mythsandmoss's reviews
421 reviews

First of all, thank you so much to Berkley Romance for this ARC, and thank you to India Holton for hosting the giveaway, and for writing such a delightful book!

Delightful truly is the word that first comes to mind when I read a book by India Holton, alongside whimsical, adventurous, and swoon worthy. Her writing has such a distinctive style that is just so much fun to read. And just like with The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love, I spent the majority of this giggling and kicking my feet.

The Geographer's Map to Romance was marketed as a cross between Anne of Green Gables and Twister, and that's honestly a great description, though it doesn't quite encompass the hilarity that it gains from the setting. The assortment of characters that ranges from brooding professors to absurd tourists to a belligerent goat, all wrapped up in the prim manners of 1890s England, and then thrown into a series of magical disasters is a hysterical combination.

The marriage of convenience trope was used excellently, and only furthered Holton's already incredible affinity for writing mutual pining. All those memes of Anthony Bridgerton and Mr. Darcy that say "we want yearning back" and "where did yearning go..." its here. The yearning is HERE.

Gabriel is like Mr. Darcy if he was played by Richard Armitage. No seriously, picture that devestating smile at the end of North and South. You're welcome. And Elodie is like a combination of Anne Shirley and Jane Porter. Aka, perfection. And I don't know whether it was purposefully written as such, but Gabriel to me was really great neurodivergent representation. It was a delight watching Elodie slowly understand his quirks and specificities and love him all the more for them.

All in all, this book was a brilliant installment in the series, and I truly cannot wait to read the next one. Ornithologist is ever so slightly higher rated for me, partially because biology is my subject, and also partly because I think it had a very slightly stronger finish than Geographer. Anyway, I will be continuing to recommend these books to anybody who will listen.